Polidoro da Caravaggio

Polidoro Caldara (1492 - 1543), usually known as Polidoro da Caravaggio was an Italian painter of the Mannerist period, "arguably the most gifted and certainly the least conventional of Raphael's pupils", who was best known for his now-vanished paintings on the facades of Roman houses He was unrelated to the later painter Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, usually known just as Caravaggio, but both came from the same small town, and the fact that Polidoro had a high reputation may have led Michelangelo Merisi to take the by then rather unusual step of adding the name of his home town to his own name

Polidoro Caldara was born in Caravaggio, in what is now Lombardy According to Vasari, whilst working as a labourer carrying the materials for the builders of the Vatican logge he ingratiated himself with the artists, and attracted the admiration of Maturino da Firenze, one of Raphael's main assistants in the ongoing decoration of the Vatican He then joined Raphael's large workshop, Between 1517 and 1518 he worked on the decoration of the Vatican Logges, commissioned by Leo X to a team of painters directed by Raffaello His compartments with Giuseppe sold by his brothers and the Passage of the Jordan are to be attributed to him

Since 1522 he worked mainly as a painter of palace façades, in collaboration with Maturino from Florence, the frescoes in grisaille, inspired by those made by Baldassarre Peruzzi, with themes from mythology or roman history, are almost all lost, of them still remain Many copies in engravings, worked at: Palazzo Ricci on the same square in Via Giulia, very well restored, Palazzo Milesi (Rome) on the Maschera d'Oro and Casino Del Bufalo between 1525 and 1526 of which some fragments Of frescoes

Between 1523 and 1524, Polidoro briefly stayed in Naples by frescoing loggias and palace façades, for the palace of poet Bernardino Rota frescoed a scene with Stories of Love and Psyche, towards 1524, of this cycle remain the scene with Psyche received in nell 'Olimpo now at the Louvre and other parts in Hampton Court

Between 1524 and 1525, he decorated a room at Villa Lante at the Gianicolo Around 1526 he decorated the chapel of Fra Mariano in San Silvestro at the Quirinale, with Scenes of the Life of Maddalena and St Catherine

In 1527, with the Sacco di Roma, the artist flees to Naples In the city he works for the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Caponapoli and the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Pescheria, carrying out works with Saints Peter and Andrew and the souls of Purgatory and the Transport of Christ to the tomb

n October of 1529 he moved to Messina, where he remained until his death In 1535 he worked for the festivals in honor of Charles V, setting up ephemeral apparatus and triumphal papyrus arches, partly in his drawings It was in 1535 that Carlo V's mandate and by Alfonso Paternò, VI Baron of the Third Customs, and Master of Campo di Carlo V, depicted a picture depicting Roberto, Count of Embrun (XI sec), A member of the Royal House Barcelona-Provence and Paternò's family At the last stage, the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Incredulity of St Thomas, the dramatic Ascension at Calvary (today at the National Museum of Capodimonte), and the Polite of the Carmine whose remains are the Angel of the Carmelites, now at Galleria Sabauda of Turin; In these works, pathetic is accentuated in accordance with Southern devotional practices Significant of this moment is the pathetic Crucifix of the Saint John Concettuate Cathedral in La Valletta (Malta), almost neo-medieval

He and Maturino then set up as painters of palace facades, usually in sgraffito, with considerable success until the sack of Rome by the army of Charles V under the command of Constable de Bourbon in 1527, in which Maturino was killed Polidoro fled to Naples, and from there to Messina, where he was very successful According to tradition, he was about to return from there to the mainland of Italy when he was robbed and murdered by an assistant, Tonno Calabrese, in 1543

Polidoro's main paintings include a Crucifixion, painted in Messina, and a Deposition of Christ (1527) and a Christ Carrying the Cross (1530–34) both in the Museo di Capodimonte of Naples, who have the best collection of his work (an oil sketch for the latter is in the National Gallery, London) They are very individual in style, extremely free in technique, and powerful in expression The Christ bearing the Cross shows considerable Northern influence, probably reflecting the traditionally strong links between Sicily and the Netherlands

His other works, as well as those of his partner, Maturino da Firenze, have mostly perished from exposure, as most were external decorations on the facades of palaces, but are known from many etchings by Pietro Santi Bartoli, Cherubino Alberti and others One of his pupils is Deodato Guinaccia They were authors of the facade decoration in classicising Graffito, usually in grisaille, of several Roman houses, like those ones in Borgo and in Parione (near Santa Maria della Pace and in Via del Pellegrino) A series of nine small internal wood panels from an unknown palace, perhaps in Naples, of which eight are now in the English Royal Collection, and one in the Louvre, give an idea of the liveliness and quality of these lost works: "Polidoro learned from Raphael the idea of re-creating the decoration of classical antiquity; but he did so with a wit, freedom and spirit of his own" Being always visible to the public, whilst they lasted the palace facades were very well known and influential, and used by "generations of young artists as a visual textbook" There are also many surviving drawings of high quality

The painter died in Messina in 1543 during an attempted robbery by a disciple known as Tonnes Calabrian To put an end to the investigation, a murder was staged, but the student was found out and sentenced to death Polydor was buried in the cloister of the Carmine convent

According to Vasari, Polidoro was firmly resolved to return to Rome after completing significant projects in Messina In order to make preparations for this trip, he withdrew all of his savings from the bank for the trip to Rome Upon discovering this, one of Polidoro's workmen, along with several accomplices, resolved to put the master to death on the following night, and then to divide the money among themselves On the night following, they set upon Polidoro while he was slumbering deeply, and strangled him with a cloth Then, giving him several wounds, they made sure of his death; After a period of many days when no perpetrator was discovered, it was thought that no one except the workman could have committed the act Upon receiving intelligence of the assistant's alleged involvement, he was captured on the authority of the Count of Messina, and tortured until he confessed to the crime Shortly thereafter, he was sentenced to the gallows, torn with red-hot pincers, and quartered

Only an Adoration of the Magi in the Church of Sant'Andrea dei Pescatori remains documented where Polydor is portrayed

In his Idea of the Temple of Painting 1590, Giovan Paolo Lomazzo will place him among the seven art governors next to Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raffaello, Andrea Mantegna, Tiziano, Gaudenzio Ferrari

Among Polidoro's pupils in Messina was Deodato Guinaccia, Stefano Giordano, Mariano Riccio, Antonello Riccio, Jacopo Vignerio, and Alfonso Lazzaro

Works:
1535, "Arco", marble artifacts erected for the triumphal entrance of Carlo V in Messina
1535, "Arco", a marble artifacts erected at "Porta Imperiale" for the triumphal entrance of Carlo V in Messina
XVI century, "Portals", project and drawings of marble artifacts of the lateral entrances of the basilica cathedral of Protometropolitana of the Virgin Mary Assumption of Messina
XVI century, Deposition, fresco, documented work and destroyed by the earthquake of southern Calabria in 1783 in the church of Carmine of Messina
XVI century, "Virgin of Carmel", painted, documented work in the church of Carmine of Messina
XVI century, "Transfiguration", painted, handed over to the Fathers Cassini and already documented in the church of the Carmine of Messina
XVI century, "Santissimo Viatico", painted, documented work in the church of the Candelora of Messina
XVI century, "Virgin of Portosalvo", painted, commissioned by the Brotherhood of Sailors for the Church of Santa Maria di Portosalvo in Messina
XVI century, "San Giacomo on horseback fighting against the Moors," painted, documented in the church of San Giacomo di Camaro
16th century, "Francesco Maurolico", portrait
XVI century, Deposition, painted, performed on imitation of the masterpiece by Girolamo Alibrandi
XVI century, "Preaching of Christ", painted, documented work
XVI century, "It went to Calvary," a painting commissioned by the Confraternity of Catalans for the Church of the Annunciation of the Catalans of Messina today at the National Museum of Capodimonte of Naples
XVI century, "Incredulity of St Thomas", painted, documented work in the church of Saint Thomas the Apostle the Elder of Messina
XVI century, "The Hunt for Meleagro", painted, commissioned by the Balsamo family
XVI century, "The Virgin of the Rosary", painted, documented in the church of San Domenico di Messina
XVI century, "Announced", paintings and paintings, works documented in the church of the Annunziata of Messina
XVI century, "Nativity", painted, documented in the church of San Giacomo Maggiore of Messina
XVI century, "San Giuseppe", painted, documented work in the church of San Lorenzo di Messina
XVI century, "Nativity", painted, documented work in the sacristy of the church of the Convent of the Order of the Capuchin Minors of Messina
XVI century, "San Giuseppe and Bambino Gesù", painted on the table, documented in the church of San Giuseppe di Messina
XVI century, "Nativity", painted on a table documented in the church of Alto Low of Messina The original replaced with a copy by Michele Panebianco is transferred to the "Peloritano Civic Museum" of the monastery of San Gregorio di Messina 10]
XVI century, "Presentation of the Child Jesus to the Temple", painted on the table, attribution, documented work in the Church of the Annunziata of Santa Lucia del Mela
16th century, born, painted on the table, documented in the church of St John the Baptist of the Jesuit College of Messina
16th century, Jesus Christ depicted as he carries the cross between the Jews, painted on the table, documented work in the church of St John the Baptist of the Jesuit College of Messina
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